ASA, 31 Others Call for Congressional Action to Combat Drug Shortages

ASA joined 31 other medical organizations in urging House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton to move forward with legislation to combat the drug shortages crisis.  While acknowledging that drug shortages cannot be solved by Congressional action alone, these organizations suggested legislation be introduced to compliment and strengthen recent regulatory decisions as well as provide new relief measures.

The communication from the drug shortage stakeholders requests that the Committee move forward with legislation that includes: developing an early warning system for production disruption or discontinuation, requiring manufacturers to have contingency plans for raw materials suppliers, encouraging redundancies in manufacturing, requiring collaboration between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to offer flexibility for product development and raw material quotas and establishing incentives for manufacturers. 

The recommendations are consistent with the findings of the Drug Shortage Summit, a group of stakeholders co-convened by ASA to advance solutions to the drug shortage issue.

Review the full letter.